10% EF

[IndyTaphorn]

I have a brother that was told he has a 10% EF. They are trying some medication to see if it works and he is now on the transplant list. He is having a very hard time. He is a teacher, coaches basketball and track and he is a wieght lifter. We are all telling him that he might be able to exercise again soon.

[Flycaster305]

Like Vienna and Often stated so well, EF is a number that states how efficiently the heart is working at that particular time.  My EF has dropped into the Congestive Heart Failure range, then through meds and consistent exercise improved to almost normal, and because of recent heart problems is now again in the Congestive Heart Failure catagory, so once again I'm in physical rehab and I fully expect my heart's EF to raise again.  The post by often brought up a very important thing to remember, that the drugs that will help the healing can be difficult to tolerate, but they will be of dramatic help.  
Best wishes to your brother and to the family.

[often]

What else is going on besides the 10% ef?  I was diagnosed at 10%, took my meds, cut my sodium (this is critical), and I improved.  I also had a pacemaker / ICD put in because my ventricles were not beating in sync.  All of these things helped and I am back to normal size and function.  Although transplant was mentioned, it was set aside while we tried all the meds etc.

As far as exercise, he will need to go by what the docs say.  Also by what his body says.  The meds for this can mimic the symptoms of the disease initially and he will probably be very fatigued.

[vienna13]

Hi, there is a correct answer, better as I would do with my words.:)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ejection-fraction/AN00360  

" During each heartbeat cycle, the heart contracts and relaxes. When your heart contracts (systole), it ejects blood from the two pumping chambers (ventricles). When your heart relaxes (diastole), the ventricles refill with blood. No matter how forceful the contraction, it doesn't empty all of the blood out of a ventricle. The term "ejection fraction" refers to the percentage of blood that's pumped out of a filled ventricle with each heartbeat. This measures the capacity at which your heart is pumping.

Because the left ventricle is the heart's main pumping chamber, ejection fraction is usually measured only in the left ventricle (LV). A normal LV ejection fraction is 55 percent to 70 percent. The ejection fraction may decrease when the heart muscle has been damaged, such as due to:

Heart attack
Heart-muscle disease (cardiomyopathy)
Heart valve problems
A doctor can measure ejection fraction by several methods, including:

An ultrasound of the heart (echocardiography)
Cardiac catheterization (left ventriculogram)
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the heart
A nuclear medicine scan (multiple gated acquisition, or MUGA) of the heart
A computerized tomography (CT) scan of the heart "

[knightrider]

I never heard of EF.What is it?

[ohiofill]

I HAD A VIRUS ATTACK MY HEART IN JUNE 07 WHEN I HAD SUDDEN CARDIC DEATH AS THEY CALL IT. MY EF WAS 20-25% NOW 8 MONTHS LATER MINE WAS AT 45% A MONTH AGO AND I FEEL GOOD. I AM A SPORTS GUY TO AND I STARTED PLAYING BASKETBALL IN A LEAGUE TO SOON AND I GOT SHOCKED TWICE WITH MY DEFIBULATOR. SO TELL HIM TO TAKE IT EASY AND GO FROM THERE. I ALSO ADVISE HIM TO START TAKING COQ10 YOU CAN GET IT AT A GNC STORE IT'S FOR THE HEART AND THERE IS ALOT OF INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET.

[vienna13]

I don’t know about the soon. Let his doctors tell him how much and when he can do. With 10% better if he doesn’t even think about coaching and weight lift for a long while.
He might need the transplant, might not.
I was a runner, took me over a year to get back to my routine. I was told with 20% forget about lifting (mine was job related) .My EF improved very soon, now my EF is normal but still wont do lifting. EF is something can go up and down. Also your brother like all of us with Cardiomathy has a damaged heart. EF number is only one thing. Hope he is under the care of a good cardiologist. The good thing is he did practice sport so it more likely  he will  improve fast, be sure he keeps the right low sodium diet !